Archive for June, 2008
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Korea Times Staff ReporterOrange King in Seattle, Washington, is well known for its hamburgers, barbeque and teriyaki. Now, its signature dishes are available here in Seoul.
Owner D.H. Han enjoyed going to Orange King when he was a student at the University of Washington in Seattle in the 1980s. He liked it so much that he decided to bring the Orange King franchise to Seoul.
Ten months ago, Orange King opened at its current spot next to the Soon Chun Hyang Hospital in Hannam-dong. From the outside, it seems like a fairly ordinary restaurant with a terrace, but inside the restaurant has a surprisingly stylish interior.
Orange King has a nice, cozy atmosphere that encourages people to sit back and relax. There are framed, colorful prints of Seattle’s best-known landmarks like Pike Place Market and Space Needle on the walls reminding customers that Orange King originated from Seattle.
Orange King’s menu features appetizers, barbeque, hamburgers, teriyaki, pasta, steak, salads and wine. Appetizers include white wine sauteed mussels, Seattle clam chowder and a variety of salads.
There is a lot of focus on the famous Orange King burgers. The deluxe burger is 4,500 won, but with French fries and soda, it’s 7,000 won. There is also a chicken barbeque burger, teriyaki burger and the popular double deluxe burger (6,500 won for burger and 9,500 won for set).
Barbequed ribs, teriyaki chicken and beef dishes are some of the best-selling dishes at Orange King.
The lunch menu, served between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., includes pasta, teriyaki and steak dishes at reasonable prices. Prices range from 5,500 for Oriental chicken salad, 9,000 won for barbequed ribs, 9,000 won for beef teriyaki and 8,500 won for spaghetti pomodoro.
We ordered the rib-eye steak (15,000 won) and the creamy chicken parmigiana (10,000 won) lunch set, which is served with salad and soda.
A good-sized rib-eye steak was served with grilled mushrooms, eggplant and baby potatoes. It was cooked well, but the steak sauce was somewhat weak. On the other hand, the creamy chicken parmigiana was flavorful, although the sauce texture may be too creamy for some people.
On some evenings, singers and musicians entertain diners during their meals. While the kitchen closes at 9:30 p.m., Orange King has an evening menu, which includes burgers, available between 9:30 p.m. and 1 a.m.
Incidentally, Orange King uses Korean beef for its rib-eye steak, and Australian beef for its hamburgers.
Orange King is located just past Soon Chun Hyang Hospital in Hannam-dong. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Call (02) 749-5515.
Much to the chagrin of local environmentalists and buddhist monks, Daegu is moving ahead with plans to build a cable car reaching up to popular Gatbawi. The construction is slated to begin in 2010 and take up to a year to complete, in time for the Daegu World Athletics Championship in 2011, which is not surprising, as the city seems to be really pushing through any project completable by then. But it’s about time that they added a cable car for this one. Given the amount of old Koreans that make that long, arduous trek (although the backside of the mountain has a spot where you can drive halfway up to a parking lot and make for a more bearable climb.) to bow and pray in front of the giant Buddha, it never made sense to me why they had a cable car for Palgongsan and not Gatbawi.
At a high school in downtown Daegu, some students were pestering another and calling him a derogatory name (something to do with the name of a Chinese basketball player?). The student informed his dad, who went nuts, grabbed a pick axe and marched off to the school. In a fit of rage, the father wielded and swung around the pick axe, breaking windows and doors, as students and teachers ran for cover. The teachers were later able to calm him down. Concerned parents must have caught wind of this from their students calling from cellphones while hiding under desks, and they went ahead and called police. The school feverishly moved to cover up the issue and informed police that they had the situation under control and that they are seeking to deal with the issue internally.
By Christine McLellan of Korea Times
Fondue dates back to as early as the 9th century B.C., when Homer described a fondue-like recipe in Song XI of the “Iliad.” By the end of the 18th century, the Swiss had turned to fondue as a staple to survive long, harsh winters with nothing but rock-hard cheese and stale bread. Since then, the fun, communal nature and agreeable taste that characterizes the dish has allowed it to stand the test of time, emerging as a popular traditional meal not only in Switzerland, but around the world. Thus it comes as no surprise that a critically acclaimed traditional Swiss fondue restaurant exists right in downtown Seoul.
Little Swiss, located in the heart of Hyehwa, Seoul’s theater district, is an authentic Swiss fondue restaurant boasting 10 different fondues in various set combinations and portions. While dinner specials also include alternatives such as fish and steak, the lunch menu offers pastas, fried rice, meat dishes, and other options for big eaters or those who may find fondue too heavy for daytime.
Located in a back alley amid many other eateries, Little Swiss stands out with its endearingly kitsch patio adorned with flowery tablecloths, white plastic chairs fastened with brightly printed cushions, doily place settings and brass kitchenware. The motif, fitting of the restaurant’s time-honored Swiss cuisine, extends to its slightly more toned down interior. We only hoped that such attention to authenticity in decor would be extended to the restaurant’s fare.
The menu offers a variety of fondue sets at a range of prices, from the Sweet red wine fondue at 24,000 won to the Fondue Special Couples Set at 100,000 won. We ordered the Fondue Couples Set for \69,000.
We began with pumpkin soup and a seasonal mixed green salad, the latter of which showcased a unique and not-too-creamy mayonnaise-based dressing with hints of melon and kiwi. Both portions were the perfect size to tide us over without satiating our appetites.
Our next course was the cheese fondue. We opted for the classic Neufchatel style, which contains a blend of gruyere and emmental cheeses, white wine, and kirsch (cheery-flavored liqueur). Accompanying the fondue was the usual bread and vegetables. The fondue was rich and authentic, but a little too salty for our tastes; more potatoes or the addition of fruits would have helped to neutralize the salty tang.
The next course was the real chef d’oeuvre. The Bourguinonne and seafood fondue had an impressive variety of meats, seafood, and vegetables, all to be cooked in a pot of simmering olive oil fondue. The chicken was juicy, the steak was tender, and the seafood was fresh. While some items were already garnished with delicious seasonings, the waiter provided us with an array of sauces for us to dip at our discretion. The food was not only delectable, but fun. Topping off our Swiss excursion with coffee and tea, the bill seemed more than reasonable.
Whether you’re a fondue connoisseur or a newcomer to Swiss communal dining, a visit to Little Swiss is a worthwhile and novel experience.
Little Swiss is located near exit 2 of Hyehwa Station on subway line 4. For more information call (02) 766-7704 or visit www.swisshouse.co.kr
…in film, yet still gives a big blind eye about tying them up and letting them hang upside down, beating the hell out of them until they die, and then skinning and slicing them up for soup. Or in short, how they kill them in order for use as an ingredient in 보신탕 (which tastes like ass, IMO).
It’s been over a year since our collaborative book, Korea Up Close, was finally published, yet it seems forever. Such a stressful time that was. Lots of other crazy stuff going on. An expensive and stressful code re-write of MyESLJob. Coming off of the summer of the long and painful passing of someone who I was emotionally close to, despite being so far apart in language and culture. By that point, I had been in Korea for 4 years straight, with nary a visit back to the West to see family and friends. I remember things deteriorating to the point of having multiple visits to 내과 for Xanax prescriptions. But taking a long look back, I’m beginning to reflect and finally realize that I have emerged from that dark funk of a period. I often found myself looking back at the book with contempt, even though the finished project turned out to be far greater than I expected, even at the most optimistic of times. But I’ve been meaning to catch up and reflect upon how myself and the other contributors to the book have evolved since then. I’m going to spend the next little while catching up in email with those who submitted work and re-publish an updated version of their work, in this blog.
Here’s some good discussion fodder with ESL classes. A coed high school in Daegu returns back to its all-male roots, which exposes debate over which format is better. Other schools are expected to follow suit.
The real estate speculation over the Grand Canal project is turning into a panicked sell-off. Daegu and Gumi investors who bought up land along the Nakdong River, in hopes to cash on Lee Myung Bak’s plan to develop a nation-spanning shipping canal, are now seeing prices drop rapidly, now that government has halted plans on the project. Per pyeong costs rose from 50,000 won to as much as 150,000 won during the frenzied speculation over the past year.
